Flange frog



Aug. 112 1924!.

v R. E. EINSTEIN FLANGE FROG Filed Dec. 8, 1923 Patented Aug. I2, 1924.

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ROBERT E. EINSTEIN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR 'IO AIJIEBICAN FLANGE FROG AND RAILWAY IMPROVEMENT COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORA- TION OF FLORIDA.

FLANGE FROG.

Application filed December To all 10710172 it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ilonrmr E. EINSTEIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri. have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Flange l ro-gs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to flange frogs of the type in which the body portion of the frog consists of a casting and the guard members consist of removable elements that are detachably connectedto said body portion.

One object of my present invention is to provide a flange frog of the general type referred to in which the guard members are combined with the body portion of the frog in a novel manner that facilitates the removal or installation of said guard members and enables short fastening devices to be used for securing the guard members to the body portion of the frog.

Another object is to provide a. cast metal frog for light rails that can be used either with conventional guard rails arranged at opposite sides of the track or with guard members mounted on the main body of the frog and. arranged in close proximity to the point so as to guide a wheel past the point by engaging the tread rim of the wheel.

Figure l of the drawings is a top plan view of a flange frog embodying my pres ent invention.

Figure .2 is a vertical transverse sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a detail longitudinal sectional view. illustrating how the fastening devices for the guard members are arranged in en gagement with the body portion of the frog.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates the body portion of a frog which preferably consists of a casting provided with. an integral frog point 1 integral portions 2 to which the track rails 3 are secured by fastening devices 4 and integral running surfaces 5 that are separated from the frog point by wheel fiangeways as. The reference character B designatesguard members arranged on the body portion A of the frog in proximity to the frog point 1 in such a manner that they will cause the flange of a passing wheel to be guided properly past the point of the frog by means of a tread rim contact in a horizontal plane above the running surfaces of the frog, said guard members projecting above said running surfaces as shown in Figure 2.

The novelty of my present invention consists in the way in which the guard members B are detachably connected to the casting A that. constitutes the body portion of the frog. As shown in the drawings, said casting is provided on its underside with a hollow space or pocket 3 whose side walls are formed by vertically-disposed webs 6, and the guard members I) are arranged in engagement with the outer faces of said webs 6 and are secured to same by short fastening devices 7, preferably bolts. In order that the fastening devices 7 may be arranged in engagement with or disengaged from the webs 6 of the casting A while said casting is positioned in the track, I provide each of said webs with openings of such size that the fastening devices 7 can be )assed through same and thereafter moved into such a position that the heads 7 of same will bear against the inner sides of the webs (3 the shanks of said fastening devices extending transversely through the webs 6 and the guard members B that bear against said webs. In the form of my invention herein illustrated the openings in the webs 6 just referred to consist of wide slots 8 that extend upwardly from the lower edges of said webs and narrow slots 8 that extend upwardly from the inner ends of the slots 8, the slots 8 being of sufficient width to permit the heads 7 of the fastening devices 7 to be inserted through same and the slots 8 being enough narrower than the diameter of said heads to prevent the fastening devices 7 from pulling out of the webs 6 when the nuts 7" on said fastening devices are tightened. In the event ordinary track bolts are used to secure the guard members B to the casting A the narrow slots 8" in the webs (3 of said casting can be made just wide enough to receive the oval portions 7 of said bolts when said oval portions are arranged vcrtically, thereby preventing the bolts from, turning when the nuts of same are being tightened or released.

The particular shape or form of the guard members B is immaterial, but in a frog designed for use with a narrow gauge track such as is used in mines the guard members can be formed conveniently from flat metal bars bent so as to conform to the port-ions of the side faces of the casting A against which they bear. lVhen the frog is constructed in this manner it is preferable to provide the casting A with laterally-projecting lugs or ribs 9 on which the guard members B rest, as shown in full lines in Figure 2 and in dotted lines in Figure 1.

A frog of the kind above described is inexpensive to manufacture, the guard members B of same can be removed or replaced easily While the frog is installed in the track without disturbing or changing the position of the casting A, and track bolts or other short fastening devices can be used in place of long through bolts to secure the guard members to the body portion of the frog. In addition to the desirable features above pointed out, a frog of the design herein illustrated can be easily converted from a flange frog into a conventional frog by removing the guard members B and arranging conventional guard rails at opposite sides of the track so as to co-operate with the flanges of the wheels to guide the wheels past the point of the frog.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A frog having a main body portion formed by a casting provided on its underside with a hollow space having side walls formed by webs on said casting, said webs having openings of such dimensions and shape that guard member fastening devices can be arranged transversely of said webs with their heads positioned inside of said pocket, without disturbing or changing the position of said casting in the track.

2. A froghaving a main body portion formed by a casting provided on its underside with a hollow space having side walls formed by webs on said casting, said webs having openings large enough to receive the heads of track belts or the like, and slots leading from said openings for receiving the shanks of said bolts, thereby enabling guard members to be connected to or detached from said casting without disturbing or changing the position of said casting in the track.

3. A frog having a main body portion formed by a casting provided on its underside with a hollow space having side walls formed by webs on said casting, said webs being provided with openings, each of which is formed by a relatively wide slot that ex tends upwardly from the lower edge of the web and. a narrow slot communicating with said wide slot and adapted to receive the shank of a guard member fastening device having a head that bears against the inner side of the web. V

4. A frog having a main body portion formed by a casting provided on its under side with a hollow space having side walls formed by webs on said casting, and means on the outer sides of said webs for supporting guard members, each of said webs having openings of such dimensions and shape that fastening devices used to secure said guard members can be arranged transversely of said web with the heads of same bearing against the inner sides of said webs without disturbing the position of said casting in the track.

5. A frog provided with a main body portion composed of a casting that has an integral point and running surfaces, vertically-disposed webs on said casting that form the side walls of a hollow space or pocket on the underside of the casting, guard members on said casting arranged in proximity to the point, and a plurality of fastening devices arranged transversely of each of said guard members and one of said webs, said webs having openings of sufiicicnt size to enable the heads of said fastening dcvices to be inserted through same and then arranged in engagement with the inner sides of said webs without disturbing or changing the position of said casting in the track.

6. A frog provided with a main body portion composed of a casting that has an integral pointand running surfaces, vertically-disposed webs on said casting that form the side walls of a hollow space or pocket on the underside of the casting, guard members on said casting arranged in proximity to the point, and short fastening devices projecting outwardly from said casting through said guard members and provided with heads that bear against the inner sides of the webs on said casting, said webs having openings of such dimensions and shape that said fastening devices can be arranged in engagement with or disengaged from said webs without disturbing the position of the casting in the track.

7. A frog having a main body portion formed by a casting provided with an integral frog point and with integral running surfaces, guard members arranged on said casting in proximity to said point, webs on said casting against which said guard members bear, fastening devices for securing said guard members in position arranged with their heads bearing against the inner sides of said webs and their shanks extending transversely through the webs and guard members, andaneans in said webs for enabling said fastening devices to be positioned in the webs or removed therefrom without disturbing the position of the cast ing in the track.

8. A frog having a main body portion formed by a casting provided with an integral frog point and with integral running surfaces, guard members arranged on said casting in proximity to said point, webs on said casting against which said guard members bear, and fastening devices for securing said guard members in position arranged with their heads bearing against the inner sides of said webs and their shanks extending transversely through the webs and guard members, said Webs having openings through which the heads of said fastening devices can be inserted and slots of less width than the diameter of said heads for receiving the shanks of said fastening devices. a

9. A frog, comprising a casting provided with a frog point and with running surfaces, guard members mounted on the exterior of said casting and arranged in proximity to said point, a plurality of relatively short fastening devices co-operating with each of said guard members and projecting outwardly from the casting, and means for enabling said fastening devices to-be engaged with or disengaged from said casting without disturbing or changing the position of the casting in the track.

10. A frog provided with a main body portion formed by a casting that has a frog point and running surfaces, guard members mounted on the exterior of said casting and arranged in proximity to said point, and a plurality of shortfastening devices co-operating with each of said guard members to secure it to the casting, arranged with their heads bearing against the inner side of a concealed portion of the casting and their shanks projecting outwardly through said guard members, and openings in said casting of such dimensions and shape thatsaid fastening devices can be arranged in operative engagement with the casting and dis engaged therefrom without changing the position of the casting in the track.

11. A frog having a casting that constitutes the main body portion of the frog, said casting being equipped with a frog point and with running surfaces, guard members mounted on the exterior of said casting and arranged in proximity to said point, a plurality of relatively short fastening devices that co-operate with each of said guard members for securing it to the casting, and

openings'in said castings for receiving said fastening devices comprising relatively wide slots through which the heads of said fastening devices can be inserted and narrow slots for receiving the shanks of said fastening devices.

12. A frog having a main body portion formed by a casting that is provided with a frog point and with running surfaces, vertically-disposed webs on said casting that form the side walls of a hollow space on the underside of the casting, guard members that bear against the outer sides of said webs, a plurality of short fastening devices that co-operate with each of said guard members to secure same to one of said webs and arranged with their heads bearing against the inner side of the web, slots in said webs through which the shanks of said fastening devices pass, and openings in said webs communicating with said slots and of such dimensions that the heads of said fastening devices can pass through same.

13. A frog having a main body portion formed by a casting that has an integral frog point and integral running surfaces, guard members on said casting formed by fiat metal bars bent to conform to the shape of the sides of the casting, lugs on said cast-' ing on which said bars rest, and means for detachably connecting said guard members to said casting.

14-. A frog having a main body portion formed by a casting that has an integral frog point and integral running surfaces, guard members on said casting formed by flat metal bars bent to conform to the shape of the sides of the casting, lugs on said casting on which said bars rest, a plurality of removable fastening devices co-operating with each of said guard members for securing it to the casting and arranged with their heads in engagement with a concealed portion of the casting, and means whereby said fastening devices can be arranged in en gagement with and disengaged from said casting without disturbing the position of the casting in the track.

ROBERT E. EINSTEIN. 

